So some may be wondering where am I staying and what am I doing as I travel around. If you think that I saved up for years to do this so I could just wander around and stay in hotels, that is incorrect. Although in hindsight that would have been a good option. I am currently writing this from the top bunk of a mixed dorm hostel, in El Chalten, Argentina. This is my 12th bed of 2023! Even hostels come at a price and add a lot onto a trips total cost so to avoid those costs I will be discussing beds number 9 and 10. These beds were different because they were “free”.

Side note: I am teaching English online when I have good wifi and have the time, which is paid, so I have a little money coming in.

For many weeks of my trip in South America I am doing what is called work aways. Basically it is a platform that you create a profile and then you can look up any place you are going to, to see if there is a host that will give you accommodation (lots of the time food) in exchange for a few hours of work a day.

My first experience was in Punta Arenas. I stayed on a ladies farm and picked raspberries. When I first signed up it sounded like a fun little job, in exchange for a room and food. When I got there I quickly saw how the profile didn’t match the work. The house was dirty. Flies covered my room and curtains, the blanket was ripped. The kitchen looked like it had never been cleaned. I wasn’t sure what I had gotten myself into. The work wasn’t horrible as it was for five days and five hours each day, I was out in the field with fellow work aways, picking and eating raspberries.

This work away in particular was not my favourite and it continued to get worse when half way through the week the water stopped working. I’ve been lucky that in all the places I’ve stayed the tap water is good to drink. So when the tap water at this farm house went out (water every where including the shower and toilets) I was stressed. I was thinking okay this lady has to be figuring out a proper solution, she has five workers here that need the basic necessities including water. She had other opinions and when we told her about the water her solution was to get water from a barrel outside. She brought in buckets of it and told us it was fine to drink and cook with. It was yellow and had floating things in it. It was not okay, so I decided to head to town to buy water bottles until it could get fixed. This offended the lady but none of us workers were willing to risk it. When I finally left this work-away after a week I was happy.

Once we left this work away we headed to Puerto Natales for our next. We were working at a campground and living in a tent for a two week commitment. Upon arrival the tent was already set up and we were given sleeping pads and sleeping bags. It was a nice tent that fit all of our things perfectly. The campground itself was very nice. The view was incredible and the kitchen and bathrooms were clean.

Our new task was to work for five hours, cleaning and working reception. When I tell you this was the easiest job. The main kitchen area was always clean because the campers cleaned up themselves. The bathrooms were clean because twice a day they got cleaned by us volunteers. Half the time we spent eating our lunch or dinner and hanging out with the other volunteers. The owners were so friendly and cooked us traditional Chilean food every Sunday evening.

The awesome part was some friends that I met along the journey from Costa Rica and from Chile ended up stoping and staying here at the same time, which was really nice. The thing about these work aways is the people you meet are awesome. I’ve enjoyed every person I’ve met along the way. I also ran into people at this campsite from Regina, Saskatchewan and we knew a bunch of the same people. The world is really small.

After the first week I was ready to sleep in a bed again but I had another full week here. It got really cold and a few nights there was hail or rain or wind. Sleeping in a tent is not the most comfortable and I was more then excited for my next stop which would include a bed! I really enjoyed the experiences of workaway however they both had pros and cons but if you are on a tight budget and have the time, it is the best way to travel.